Today is a Diablo 3 special news posts for obvious reasons (see the news below). For a complete coverage of the Diablo 3 Press Tour and more information on the upcoming beta, check out Diablofans.com

Diablo 3 Auction House Announced - Spend and Earn Real Life Money!
The Diablo 3 Auction House was announced during last week's press tour and I'm sure that news will be very interesting for most of the readers of this site, because most of us wonder if it will have any effect on the evolution of WoW in the long run.

Diablo 3's Auction House will feature two currencies, the first one will be in-game gold and the 2nd one will be real life money. Yep, you read it right, Diablo 3 will let you buy items with either gold or real life money! It's also worth noting that you will also be able to sell loot for money, and transfer that money outside the game. I guess gold farming just got interesting.

See the screenshots and official FAQ below for more information.

Auction House Bidding - Dollars

Auction House Bidding - Gold

Auction Log - Gold

Auction House Search - Dollars

Auction House Sell - Dollars

Auction House Sell - Gold

Auction House Selling - Dollars

Diablo 3 Auction House - Overview

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

We’re introducing a powerful auction house system that will provide a safe, fun, and easy-to-use way for players to buy and sell the loot they obtain in the game. Items can be sold and purchased using real-world money or in-game gold.

An Easier Way To Trade
Sure, slaying monsters, demons, and cultists is a surefire way to obtain a ton of random new loot in Diablo III, but with the new auction house feature, it’ll be easier than ever to gear up your character with the exact items you’re looking for. You can also post the items you don’t need for players who are desperately searching for what you’ve got!

Don’t Need It? Put It Up For Auction!
Nearly everything found in the game, including gold, can be exchanged with other players directly or through the auction house system. So say you’re a witch doctor and you’ve just found an incredibly rare, incredibly powerful axe that only barbarians can use. In the previous Diablo games your best option might have been to sell the axe to an in-game vendor, but in Diablo III, you now have the ability to list that axe in the auction house for your fellow barbarian players to bid on. And you know another player will probably appreciate the true value of that axe more than some heartless vendor who’ll likely just melt it down for scrap….

Amazing Search Functionality
The auction house’s "smart search" functionality can automatically sort items in the auction house based on which upgrades would be most beneficial to your character. Also, searching for the best gear for multiple characters on the same Battle.net account can be done all from the same interface without having to log out.

The Choice Is Yours
Use of either the real-money or gold-based auction house is completely optional -- that decision can be made on a per-item basis, and both versions of the auction house are functionally the same. In addition, players have the option to simply sell the items they obtain to in-game vendors for gold. They can also trade items to other players through a direct character-to-character trading system in the game in exchange for gold, other items, or just an overwhelming sense of goodwill.

Players Only
Blizzard does not plan to post items for sale in the auction house. The driving purpose of the auction house is to provide players with a fun additional in-game option for what they do with the items they obtain in the game. Items sold in the auction house will be posted by players and purchased by players.

Safe and Sanctified
The real-money auction house provides players with an easy-to-use, Blizzard-sanctioned way to collect money for items they obtain while playing Diablo III. It also helps protect players from the scams and theft often associated with questionable third-party sites by providing a secure, completely in-game method for purchasing and obtaining the items they want for their characters.

Faster Than A Seven-Sided Strike
Sellers can post items for auction from any of the Diablo III characters on their Battle.net account, or from their shared stash (extra inventory space accessible with any of the characters on their account), without logging out. And after a buyer has won an auction, the item will become immediately available to be equipped and put to good use in the ongoing struggle against the forces of the Burning Hells.

Diablo 3 Auction House - FAQ

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

What is the Diablo III auction house system?
Acquiring epic new gear for your characters has always been a big part of the Diablo experience. Because of this, players have found a number of different ways to trade and otherwise obtain items both within and outside of the game. Many of these methods were inconvenient and either tedious (for example, repeatedly advertising for a desired trade in Battle.net chat channels and waiting for responses) or unsafe (e.g., giving credit card information to third-party trading sites). With Diablo III, we’re introducing a powerful auction house system that will provide a safe, fun, and easy-to-use way for players to buy and sell the loot they find in the game, such as weapons, armor, and runestones. Two different versions of the auction house will be available in Diablo III: one based on in-game gold, which players acquire through their adventures, and one based on real-world currency.

What’s the difference between the gold-based auction house and the currency-based auction house?
The gold-based auction house uses in-game gold for purchases and sales. With the currency-based auction house, players will be able to conduct these transactions using actual currency from an authorized payment method or from funds that have been added to their Battle.net account. Players can choose to participate in whichever version of the auction house they prefer, on a per-transaction basis.

How does the auction house system work?
Players can open the auction house interface from anywhere in the game to make purchases or list items for sale. Items can be sold from the shared stash (storage shared among all the characters on your Battle.net account) or from any individual character’s inventory. When posting the item, the seller picks whether it will be sold in the gold-based auction house or the currency-based auction house. The item is then held by the auction house system until the listing expires or a purchase is made. Items that are not sold are returned to the seller’s shared stash, and items that are sold are delivered to the winning bidder’s shared stash. In either case, the auction house system will deduct a nominal fixed transaction fee from the seller, the amount of which is determined by whether or not the item was sold (see below). For the currency-based auction house, players will have a few different options for how to pay for item purchases and receive funds for item sales, as discussed elsewhere in this FAQ. There may be differences in how this system will work in different regions of the world. We’ll provide further details at a later date.

How is the transaction fee determined?
A nominal fixed transaction fee will be deducted from the seller for each item listed in the auction house. This fee consists of a fixed charge to list the item, which is assessed whether or not the item is successfully sold, and an additional fixed charge that is assessed only if the item is sold. Because the listing portion of the fee is charged even if the item doesn’t sell, it will be in the seller’s interest to list items he or she believes other players will be interested in, and to do so at a competitive price. Specific details related to the transaction fee for the currency-based auction house will vary by region and will be announced at a later date.

Please note that we plan to waive the listing portion of the fee for a limited number of transactions per account. In other words, for these transactions, the seller will only pay a transaction fee if the item is successfully sold, and that fee will not include the listing charge. We’ll have further details on this as well at a later date.

Why are you creating a currency-based version of the auction house?
Our goal with all of our games is to ensure players have a highly enjoyable, rewarding, and secure experience. Acquiring items has always been an important part of the Diablo series, but the previous games have not had a robust, centralized system for facilitating trades, and as a result players have turned to inconvenient and potentially unsafe alternatives, such as third-party real-money-trading organizations. Many of the transactions between players and these organizations led to a poor player experience and countless customer-service issues involving scams and item/account theft, to name a few. To that end, we wanted to create a convenient, powerful, and fully integrated tool to meet the demand of players who wished to purchase or sell items for real-world currency, and who would likely have turned to a less-secure third-party service for this convenience.

How will the currency-based auction house work?
Players will be able to make purchases in the currency-based auction house using a registered form of payment attached to their Battle.net account. As with other popular online-purchase services, players will also have the option to charge up their Battle.net account with a balance of funds that can be drawn from for purchases of any digital product available through Battle.net -- this includes not only auction house items but also things like World of Warcraft subscription time and paid services, to name a few examples. On the flipside, when players sell an item in the currency-based auction house, the proceeds of the sale are deposited into their Battle.net account and can then be used as described above. Note that this process might be different for certain regions; we’ll provide further region-specific details as we get closer to launch.

Can players choose to get cash from currency-based auction house sales, instead of having the proceeds deposited into their Battle.net account?
Yes, as an advanced feature, players will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” would then be handled through the third-party payment service. Note that this process will be subject to applicable fees charged by Blizzard and the third-party payment service. Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house that have been deposited into the Battle.net account will not be transferrable to the third-party payment service account. Not all regions will support this advanced feature at launch. Region-specific details, as well as details regarding which third-party payment services will be supported and the fee that Blizzard will charge for the cash-out process, will all be provided at a later date.

Is the currency-based version of the auction house optional?
Yes, the currency-based auction house is available as an option for players who wish to purchase or sell Diablo III items for real money. Players are also able to buy and sell items through the gold-based auction house, and they can trade items with each other as well through direct character-to-character in-game trading.

Why would I want to pay real money to buy or sell in-game items?
Acquiring items has always been a core part of the Diablo series' appeal. With the previous Diablo games, many players have shown a great interest in buying, selling, or exchanging items for their characters using real-world currency, turning to potentially unsafe avenues to accomplish this goal. The currency-based version of the auction house provides players with an easy-to-use, Blizzard-sanctioned way to collect money for items obtained while playing Diablo III. In addition, it helps protect players from scams and disreputable third-party sites by providing a secure, in-game method to search for and purchase items posted by other players that are a perfect fit for their character and play style.

The currency-based auction house is completely optional. Players who aren't interested in paying real money for items will still be able to rely on items they acquire through their own adventures, and they'll also be able to trade with friends and use the full-featured gold-based auction house.

Can I play on a server without a currency-based version of the auction house?
We want to provide a secure, fun environment for our players to purchase and sell in-game items using gold or real money and have no plans to divide the community. Players are free to participate in the gold-based auction house or the currency-based auction house, or to opt out of using any of the auction houses at all, progressing through Diablo III using only the items they obtain through their own adventures or direct trade with other players.

Does Blizzard plan to post weapons, armor, and other such items for sale in the currency-based version of the auction house?
The currency-based auction house is a place for players to purchase or sell items they’ve obtained within the game. Blizzard does not plan to post items that affect gameplay, such as gear or character-enhancing runestones, for sale in the auction house.

Will Blizzard sell anything directly through the auction house?
We don't have any plans at this time to post items for sale in the auction house.

Does the currency-based auction house signify a shift in Blizzard’s business and revenue model?
We’ve always tailored our business models to match what we’ve felt would be most appropriate and effective for each game and in each region, and that’s the case with Diablo III as well. The item-based nature of Diablo gameplay has always lent itself to an active trade-based ecosystem, and a significant part of this trade has been conducted through unsecure third-party organizations. This has led to numerous customer-service and game-experience issues that we’ve needed to account for. Our primary goal with the Diablo III auction house system is for it to serve as the foundation for a player-driven economy that’s safe, fun, and accessible for everyone.

What’s Blizzard’s cut?
As with other online auction sites and real-world auction houses, our fee structure will vary by region. However, we plan to collect a nominal fixed transaction fee for each item listed in the auction house. This fee consists of a fixed charge to list the item, which is assessed whether or not the item is successfully sold, and an additional fixed charge that is assessed only if the item is sold. The listing portion of the fee, which helps encourage sensible listing prices and discourage the mass posting of items that are very low quality or would be of little interest to other players, will be waived for a limited number of transactions per account. For players who opt to have the proceeds of their auction house sales go to their third-party payment service account instead of to their Battle.net account, Blizzard will collect a separate “cash-out” fee. Specific details regarding these fees will be announced at a later date.

Why would I even want to use the gold-based auction house?
We recognize that not all players would prefer or have the means to participate in the currency-based auction house, and it was important to us to provide these players with a full-featured alternative.

Can we buy gold from the currency-based auction house?
Players will be able to buy and sell gold through the currency-based auction house at whatever the current market price is, as established by the player community.

If I no longer need an item I bought in the auction house, can I relist it in the auction house?
Yes. Once you've purchased an item you can do anything with it that you could if you had acquired it through your own adventures, whether that be using it yourself, or, after a cool-down period, trading it to another character or relisting it on either the gold-based or currency-based auction house. In fact, you can generally do any combination of these things -- for example, you can purchase an item in the auction house, use it for a while, and then relist it or trade it to another character. Aside from certain quest items, there will be very few (if any) items that will be “soulbound” to your character and therefore untradable. Please note that the duration of the cool-down period mentioned above will be discussed at a later date.

AUCTION HOUSE FUNCTIONALITY

What items can be traded in Diablo III?
Nearly everything that drops on the ground, including gold, can be traded with other players directly or through the auction house system. Aside from certain quest items, there will be very few (if any) items that will be “soulbound” to your character and therefore untradable. We are also planning to allow players to buy and sell characters in the auction house at some point in the future and will have more details to share on that at a later date.

What is "smart searching"?
When players launch the auction house interface, they’ll be able to select any Diablo III character associated with their Battle.net account. The "smart search" feature will assess which item slots have available upgrades and will sort items available in the auction house based on which upgrades would be most beneficial to the character. You can also search for specific stats to match the requirements of a particular character build.

How does bidding work?
Players will be able to place a current bid as well as a maximum bid if they wish to engage in automatic bidding. In addition, they’ll be able to check the status of their bids on the "Currently Winning" page and the "Outbid" page in the auction house interface.

Can I buyout items that I want to purchase immediately?
Yes, the Diablo III auction houses will support a buyout feature as well as standard bids.

How do I pay for items?
For the gold-based auction house, purchases will be made using in-game gold. For the currency-based auction house, players can make purchases using a registered form of payment attached to their Battle.net account. As with other popular online-purchase services, players will also have the option to charge up their Battle.net account with a balance of funds that can be drawn from for purchasing items in the currency-based auction house. Note that this process might be different for certain regions; we’ll provide further region-specific details as we get closer to launch.

How do I receive the items I’ve won?
After winning an auction, the item will be available to pick up through the built-in auction house interface in the Diablo III client. Players will then be able to immediately send that item to their shared stash (storage shared among all the characters on a Battle.net account) or repost the item in the auction house after a cool-down period. The duration of the cool-down period will be discussed at a later date.

How do I sell items?
From the auction house interface, players will be able to select items from their shared stash or from a specific character's inventory. They will then be able to post items for sale by listing a starting bid and buyout price.

How do I cash out from the currency-based auction house?
As an advanced feature, players will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” would then be handled through the third-party payment service. Note that this process will be subject to applicable fees charged by Blizzard and the third-party payment service. Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house that have been deposited into the Battle.net account will not be transferrable to the third-party payment service account. Not all regions will support this advanced feature at launch. Region-specific details, as well as details regarding which third-party payment services will be supported and the fee that Blizzard will charge for the cash-out process, will all be provided at a later date.

Will buying or selling items in the auction house reveal my identity?
No. All player transactions in the gold-based and currency-based auction houses will be anonymous, and neither your real name nor your character name will be revealed to other players.

Will there be a mobile or Web-based auction house?
We're always on the lookout for opportunities to enhance the game experience and keep our community connected to our games through the Web or mobile devices. However, we do not have any plans to share along those lines at this time.

When will this be available for testing?
We'll share more information on our auction house testing plans as we get closer to launch.

REGIONAL AUCTION HOUSE DETAILS

Which regions will have currency-based auction house support?
We plan to roll out the currency-based version of the auction house in as many regions as possible with the launch of Diablo III. In regions where the currency-based auction house will not be available, players will still have access to a gold-based auction house. We'll share more details in the future.

Will there be separate auction houses in each region? Will I be allowed to bid on items from players outside my own region?
Due to various factors, including technology, language, and currency, there will be multiple separate auction houses serving different player communities around the world. We’ll share specific details on how the auction houses will work for each region as we get closer to launch.

If I live in Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia, what server will I play Diablo III on?
As with StarCraft II, players who purchase the Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia version of Diablo III will have their own regional servers, offering lower latency and more action during peak hours. While we encourage players to play on these servers, we recognize that many have longstanding friendships with North American players and would like to continue playing with them. Because of this, we're again giving Australia/New Zealand/ Southeast Asia gamers access to both regions' servers so they can choose where they'd prefer to play.

How does this impact the items I have purchased in the auction house?
Auction house purchases are bound to the servers in the region in which they're bought. Any items acquired on the Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia servers, in-game or otherwise, are bound to those servers and are not transferrable to the North American servers (and vice versa). Please keep this in mind when making purchases in the auction house.

What currencies will be available? What currency will items in the auction house be viewed in? Can players purchase items using local credit cards or bank accounts?
Our goal is to make the auction house experience in each region as seamless as possible for players, and we are currently exploring various currency and payment options to help achieve that goal. We’ll provide further details as we get closer to launch.

AUCTION HOUSE GAMEPLAY ISSUES

Will I be able to use third-party mods to track auction prices?
For a variety of gameplay and security reasons, we will not be supporting bots or mods in Diablo III, and they’ll be expressly prohibited by our terms of use for the game.

Can Hardcore-mode characters use the currency-based auction house?
No. Hardcore characters will only have the option to buy and sell items together with other Hardcore characters via a separate "Hardcore-only" gold-based auction house; they will not be able to use the currency-based auction house. Hardcore mode is designed as an optional experience for players who enjoy the sense of constant peril that comes with the possibility of permanent death for a character. All of a Hardcore character’s items are forever lost upon that character’s death, so to avoid the risk of a player spending real money on items that could then be permanently lost when the character dies, we decided restrict the use of the currency-based auction house in Hardcore mode.

If my character dies in Hardcore mode, will I lose the items that I purchased in the "Hardcore-only" gold-based auction house for that character?
Yes. Again, Hardcore-mode characters will only have access to a "Hardcore-only" gold-based auction house, not the currency-based auction house, and will not be able to trade with non-Hardcore characters. Hardcore is an optional mode designed for players who enjoy playing with the risk of permanently losing their character if the character dies, and that includes the items they acquired with that character.

Can I just buy the most powerful items and breeze through the game?
Items will be level-restricted, meaning your character won't be able to use an item until he or she is at the appropriate level for that item.

AUCTION HOUSE CUSTOMER SUPPORT

What happens if a player does not receive a purchased item?
The auction process is automated, but if a player purchases an item and for some reason does not receive it, he or she will be able to contact our customer service team to look into the issue.

What happens if there is a patch and the item I purchased is altered?
It's important for us to ensure that Diablo III remains balanced and fun for years after launch. To that end, it may be necessary to change stats or alter abilities of items from time to time. It’s very important to note that Blizzard will not be providing refunds or making other accommodations if a purchased item is later altered in a patch. Given this, it's up to players to determine whether they're comfortable purchasing items in the currency-based auction house.

Someone bought an item on my account without my permission. Can I get a refund?
Please note that account sharing will be forbidden in Diablo III's Terms of Use. In cases of compromise, our customer service team will look into the situation and determine the appropriate course of action.

I accidentally lost or dropped an item I just purchased -- can I get a refund?
No. After a purchase is made, players will be responsible for what they do with the item.

How will you address bots or cheaters?
We take cheating very seriously, and we've designed Diablo III and Battle.net to include measures to detect and prevent unfair play. In addition, we will have anti-cheating policies in place and will take action to address any issues as they arise.

Method vs Ragnaros (25 Heroic) World Second Kill VideoMethod released the video of their World Second Kill of Ragnaros in 25-Man Heroic mode. It features 6 different Point of Views and is very nicely done, you should probably check it out!

On a sidenote, Envy (EU-Auchindoun) and Ensidia (EU-Tarren Mill) also defeated Ragnaros! Congratulations to both guilds!

Lich King Solo Kill by Mione (Death Knight)Mione did it again and spent her time working on the Lich King solo kill after the release of Patch 4.2.

Description (Taken from Youtube)Ironically, this was going to be my last attempt for tonight... :)

LK's main challenges are:

1) Practice of cooldown usage in p1. They're used *very* strictly and if you don't have that practice, you'll probably wipe in p1 endlessly (which is what I initially did)

3) Finally, the obvious DPS race. This fight lasted an exact 15 minutes, not a single second more or less - I spent the whole evening wiping between 11 and 12% and finally, finally did it, through more Vengeance stacking and better play on my part (oh .. and maybe a lil bit crit RNG I guess? :p).

There's no particular clever trick, however, and I honestly think some other solos such as Yogg were *harder* in terms of thinking outside the box. Here I'm basically excecuting the fight as clean as I can, grabbing every possible bit of DPS along the way. However, I didn't encounter any boss so far that was as exhausting as LK was in terms of raw DPS requirements. Especially since, while I do have tons of 391 gear, I'm still rockin' little 372 Akirus. ;) If you think DPS requirements aren't worth of a "challenge", I guess pre-nerf Baleroc/Cho'gall would like a word with you.

FAQ:

Necrotic Plague : cannot target the tank. You need it to clear the ghouls/vrykuls from phase 1, however. The trick is to put an engineer dummy to drop aggro for a split second, LK gives you the plague, outheal it, then proceed. Use either AMS/Chains of Ice or Potion of Purification to remove it/prevent it from affecting you again.

Valks : Buggy as hell. Can't target the tank, they just mess around. They finally stop eating popcorn and grab me at some point... you'll have to watch to see when.

Defile : I stand in some of these on purpose in order to increase Vengeance. It has to be done very carefully, since both p2 and p3 are very healing intensive phases (p2 because of Infest which means I can't dip too low on health, p3 because of vile spirit explosions)

Frostmourne: Yet another mechanic that doesn't target the tank. Wouldn't be difficult to overcome in any way whatsoever, but would make beating the enrage impossible, so I guess that's a good thing it's not there.

What's next? It wouldn't be fun if I already told you everything right? Getting surprised is awesome.

RaidBots.com - Classes and Specs comparisons in Raids
If you ever wondered if you suck more than that other guy in your raid, or if your spec is just slightly underpowered compared to his on the boss you're currently fighting, RaidBots.com's statistics is probably the answer to your questions!

It features spec scores and DPS stats for all classes in the game based on WorldofLogs parses and it should help you get an idea of how you're supposed to perform. You can also filter stats by boss/instance/difficulty through the menu on the right and if you're a little desperate, it might be an interesting way to know which classes you want to stack to defeat a specific boss ... but please don't hate me for saying that.

The picture below is the current ranking of classes in 25-Man heroic mode, keep in mind that guilds are still working on those bosses and it will take a few more weeks for them to stabilize. And yes, the mages going up to 52000 DPS is most likely a bug from the Alysrazor fight, but I'm going to point it out just in case.

The reason for this confusion stemmed from a quirk in the way item hotfixes have to be applied, unfortunately. We hope to have the item's data completely corrected soon so others are not caught off guard by what the tooltip currently states.

Yes, obviously Blizzard needs to fix the tooltip on the pattern and the item if they're not going to just make it 3.80 like it ought to be. But, I think the real question ought to be:

Why isn't it 3.80 anyway?
At 3.80 speed, the weapon was over-performing relative to its cost and the ease with which it can be obtained.

[...] We wanted this weapon to be roughly on par with weapons from the previous tier, since it can be purchased from the Auction House. It wasn't intended to compete as much with current raid drops, as it felt weird that a strength-based DPS crafted weapon was more attractive than some of its counterparts.

More Free VoDs to Prepare for the 2011 European Battle.net Invitational

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

It’s time to get warmed up for the free HD live stream of the 2011 European Battle.net Invitational. We’ve begun uploading free VoDs from some of the best StarCraft II, Warcraft III and World of Warcraft matches from last year’s event, and there’s a new video waiting for you!

Interested in watching Arena matches between the best European eSport teams? Then you should watch the videos of the final of the 2010 European World of Warcraft Arena Invitational! This four-round final pitched two Arena titans against each other: French eSport team ’aAa’ (‘against All authority’) and ‘L.C.ActioN’ (‘LightZ CaMerA ActioN’), with several of the best European players among their rosters. This clash of two mirror teams will also be remembered as the bloody reunion of two former team mates, but this time on opposite sides of the arena: world famous ‘L. C. ActioN’ warlock Inflame, and ‘aAa’ restoration druid Enigmz.

Watch these fierce battles on the 2011 European Battle.net Invitational website to find out who clinched the 5,000 USD first place prize.

Be sure to come back frequently as we will regularly add more free VODs!

New Warcraft Fan Art
The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with four new pieces of fan artwork set within the Warcraft universe.

Pretty much nothing to news these days, mostly because Blizzard is busy with the Diablo 3 press tour I guess (see this news post).

You will probably see updates on MMO-Champion as soon as the NDA is lifted if anything really important is announced there (beta, end of the world, etc ...) and in any cases you will get a full report on Diablofans.com.

Nothing new on the Patch 4.3 side yet, hopefully it will hit the test servers "soon" since Blizzard already mentioned in the past that they would release patches faster.

Paragon VS Ragnaros 25man Heroic World First Kill VideoDREAM Paragon released their video of the Ragnaros world first kill yesterday and I didn't have the occasion to embed it. However, something weird happened during the encoding and the quality was lower than intended. Paragon reuploaded the video with that problem fixed, enjoy!

BlizzCon Online Contests Now Open

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

The wait is over for those eager to share their stunning sketches, masterful machinimas and amazing arias for a chance at glory in this year's BlizzCon contests. Head over to our Contest pages to submit your entry, and learn what kind of sweet loot you can win. Any questions should be directed to [email protected].

Combustion should no longer ignore damage modifiers on a target. As an example, Smoldering Elemental packs in the Firelands should no longer take full damage from Impact’s spread of Combustion, despite these creatures having damage reduction modifiers.

Deep Wounds should no longer ignore damage modifiers on a target. As an example, Smoldering Elementals in the Firelands should no longer take full damage from Deep Wounds, despite these creatures having damage reduction modifiers.

Dungeons & Raids

Players who die and release before a boss is killed should now receive Valor and Justice points. However, players that release at the moment the boss dies and are currently at the loading screen will become locked to the dungeon, but will not receive any currency for the kill. We’re working to address this in a future update.

Firelands

Alysrazor

Alysrazor cannot dodge or parry attacks from players.

Alysrazor’s melee evasion angle has been adjusted so that players have a larger area to use abilities which require that they be behind their target.

Blazing Talon Clawshapers will now properly aggro a new target when threat is dropped.

On Heroic difficulty, Brushfires will despawn once Firestorm is cast, and since the Initiates shield themselves during firestorm, none are cast again until it ends.

Molten Feather is removed once Alysrazor ignites at 50 energy, as opposed to when she burns out.

Baleroc

On 25-player Heroic difficulty, Torment now grants a stack of Vital Spark per 5 applications, up from 3. To compensate, Baleroc’s health has been reduced on 25-player Heroic difficulty.

Beth’tilac

Attacking the Fire Hawk flock along the way to Beth'tilac will not cause the Hell Hound pack to aggro as well.

Majordomo Fandral Staghelm

Fandral’s health has been reduced on 25-player Heroic difficulty.

Damage suffered from a shaman's Spirit Link totem will no longer break player Concentration.

Player pets should now benefit from their master's Concentration.

Fandral now gains energy when his Flame Scythe hits fewer than 7 targets. The amount gained increases as fewer targets are hit.

The Occulus

Wiping to Mage-Lord Urom in any phase of the encounter no longer causes players to be unable to use their Dragon Essences to mount drakes.

Items

The Moonwell Chalice is now on a shared cooldown with other on-use trinkets.

The Moonwell Phial is now on a shared cooldown with other on-use trinkets.

Professions

Crafted Bloodthirsty bind-on-equip relics and cloaks are no longer unique, allowing players to craft and hold more than one of the same item type in their inventories.

PvPBattlegrounds

Eye of the Storm has been temporarily removed from the Rated Battlegrounds options.

Quests & CreaturesEastern Plaguelands

Beezil Linkspanner's gossip option should now always be available if players have completed the quest Onward to Light's Hope Chapel, allowing players who have not already done so the ability to complete the achievement Full Caravan.

Hyjal Regrowth & Molten Front

Players should now be able to accept the quest Unlocking the Secrets Within from Rabine Saturna after turning in A Smoke-Stained Locket.

Players who are Hated or Hostile with the Steamwheedle Cartel faction can still turn in the quest Well Armed to Ricket.

The creature abilities Smoldering Roots and Blazing Stomp no longer affect pets (the unexpected launch of player pets no longer occurs).

Baleroc's health was changed from 217M to 195.6M in 25-Man Heroic Mode.

Majordomo Staghelm's health was also reduced by about 10% in 25-Man Heroic Mode.

I'm still trying to track down the changes but if you noticed something else, please post a comment in this news post or in the existing threads of the Raids & Dungeons Forums! (Picture below shamelessly stolen from Sinfonia's post)

Hopefully Blizzard will eventually tell us what the changes exactly are.

Ragnaros 25-Man Heroic World 2nd Kill by Method
A few hours ago, Method became the second guild in the world to defeat Ragnaros in 25-Man Heroic mode! Congratulations to them! It also means that we'll eventually get a nice video from Paragon in a few hours.

Blue Posts

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

Battle.net Authenticator Changes
We understand the concern many players have with the recent Battle.net authenticator changes. To that end, we’re exploring the idea of adding an “Opt Out” option within Battle.net Account Management, which would then force the prompt for an authenticator code whenever you log into World of Warcraft.

To be clear, we have gone to great lengths to ensure Battle.net accounts and authenticators provide players with a high level of security. Maintaining a safe and secure Blizzard gameplay environment remains a top priority for us.

[...] We've been discussing the best way to implement new options for this feature since the moment it was announced. We don't yet have additional details about exactly how we might implement the feature, or whether it's something you'll need to opt out of by default, or opt into by default. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Very Rare Drop Mounts
You'll likely always see a variety of ways to obtain mounts in the game. We don't necessarily implement all of them in a way that ensures we acquiesce all mount collectors or achievement hounds.

We want a healthy number of mounts to remain fairly rare in the game, and sometimes that involves making them huge luck finds in dungeons or raids. For the average player, there will always be plenty of new mounts to acquire or work toward, but we also want to have a decent variety of coveted mounts that only a lucky handful of players will find.

Players often express concern that they end up looking like everyone else when they acquire awesome gear. This was somewhat a flip from the concept that tier sets were much too difficult to obtain back in the day. We share this concern and also think it's a problem that would apply to mounts as well, if some of the more rare ones out there had their RNG components removed.

There are so many mounts in the game now that having some really rare and random prestige rides is okay by us. ;) (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)